Hair of Sedum and Sempervivum

Containers like this are reminders of ancient Mediterranean regions filled with stone statues of gods and goddesses, lavish water fountains and mosaic tiles such as those found in archaeological digs. Sedums creep over the edges like loose tendrils of hair, while the sempervivums perch on top as a crown of nobility on the moss-laden head.

This eighteen-year-old classic-looking container is made from concrete. Jane Coombs, a garden designer since 1979, planted a mixture of sedums and sempervivums (hens and chicks) in the mid 1990s. Most years she doesn't fertilize the plants that fill a cavity holding the same amount of soil as a four-inch container. Other years she throws in a small amount of time-release fertilizer. “Survival of the fittest,” Jane remarks about the plants residing in a pot she doesn't water too often in her Portland, Oregon garden. Many years later, the plants survive and are a testament to their hardy and drought-tolerant nature.